Coupling



.l- WILKINSON.

COUPLING.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 21, 1919.

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J I I I 1 J.W!LK1NSON.

COUPLING, APP LICATIDN FILED MAR. 27". 1919.

Patented Nov. 7, 1922..

lnventQr" James \x/nmnsam byM-M His Attc fifiey.

JAMES "WILKINSON, OF SCl-TZENECTADY, NEW/ YORK, .ASSIGHOE TO GENERALELECTRIC COMPANY, A 013E130 in e T r 1 lei I oonPLmr-s.

Application filed. March 27, 1919. Serial No. 285,701.

0 all w/eom u 7lJ/(Lf/ come; 21. I Be it known that l, learnsVJILKINSON, 21. lhe Un ed Slates, residing at ihe county of Schenectady,

i are 0., oric hove ii rented certain new and useful linproveinenils inCouplings,

of which the following is uspecificetion.

The present invention relates ho couplings such as are used to connecttogether two ad jacenc shaft ends, for example, the two adjacent ends ofa. driving shaft and a driven shah; end perliculnrly to couplings(50.112- prising adjacent face or linnges carried by the shell ends andhavin intercu- 'oq-ing l'llOllilklS which t the load :ind wl'lich at thesome iiine permit axial adely to each jusrnlenis of the shells i'elzrti"other to lake place.

F or some us s it important for the successful operation oi "theapparatus that axial adjustments between the driving and driven takeplace readily, and one object of my invent-ion is to provide on improvedstructure which is not likely to stick or bind. Also, where 9. number ofinterengagin members are used, it is essential tothe suc ccssi't'uloperation of the coupling thet the loud or pressure be approximatelyequally distributed :unong the nbei; because any member carrying excel eload is subject to wear and is likely to stick. Equal division oi? theload depends upon the proper cngogeinem 01 all the interengaging membersand a, further ohjecc of my invention is to provide a arrangementwherein the op crniivc '1 1011 oil. the coupling may be tested readilywith :1 minimum of eilort.

l3 jiurllier objectof my invention is pro ide on. improved arrangement lor lubricarting 2 a couplino' oi? the (-lnnuci'ier referr d lo and forseparating: out any water which may be c in with the lul "icen'l.

vied For n. considerstron of whathell he novel and my inveniioiattention is (n rooted to the nocoinpzinying descripcion. and.

trated in connection with 2. coupling of the pin typeand is shown asconnecting the edjuceno ends of the two shafts 5 and 6. it will beunderstood that one 01 these may be a driving shaft and iihe other adriven shaft. 011 the end oz? shaft 5 is keyeo a sleeve 7 which carriesa flange or coupling member or element '7 and on the end of shaft 6 iskeyed sleeve 8 which carries o. flange or couplinginember or element 8.The keys are indicated at 7 and 8 respectively. Fixed lo flange 8 andprojecting axially therefrom are pins 9 there being a suitable g in aring. The flange 8 has openings 10 through which an end of pins projectsand these pins have shoulders 11 which engage the flange on one side andtlniesded ends which project beyond the other side of the flange andreceive nuts 12. When nuts 12 are screwed up the pins 9, as is obvious,are firmly fixed to flange 8.

project through openings 14 in flange 7 and in accordance with myinvention I provide between the outer surfaces of the pins 9 and thesurfaces of openings 1%, floating bushings 15 which engage such surfacesin iorin bearings but are "free to move axially. Floating bushings 15project beyond the faces of flange 7 and are limited in their :uziemovement on the one hand by ilzrnge 8 and on the other hand by heads 16(n'rrhe ends 01" the pins. The arrangement s such with the maximum axialmove their. ment (in end of e bushing 15 will not move within theconfines of flange 7. Heads 16 off the pins are locznfied in openings in:1 hinge 17 carried by the outer end of o. ring 18, the inner end ofwhich engages flange S 9 are supported noboth ends and ll l'\eco1nehen-1 or out of align ment. Preferably the pins are bored out to makethem hollow as indicused in dotted lines in 1 and as shown in 2 so 7olighten. their weight.

To lubricate the coupling 1 provide a number of openings which. extendthrough sleeve '1' and supply nibricent to the space h :een the shaftends. From here 1tis (thrown out by centrifugal force and some toprovide lubricant for these parts which slide on, each other when axialadjustmenttakes place. 24t- 153 a casing to catch the overflow oflubricant from the cou )line'. Lubri- I V I cant may be supplioo toopenings 2.]. from any suitable source. In the present instance I haveshown oaeninqs 21 as terminatin k 13 adjacent a bearing for shaft 5 andin this case the lubricant which spills from the bearing is suppliedthrough openings 21 to the coupling. With this arrangement, it will beseen. all the moving parts are flooded with lubricant which ensuresample lubrication at all times.

To separate water from the lubricant I provide an annular passage 27which extends from the periphery of the space between flanges 7 and. 8in a generally radial direction so its outer end is farther from theaxis of the shafts than its inner end. The outer end of annular passage27 is connected. by an opening 28 to the radially outer end of aradially extending hole 29 in flange 8. The outer end of hole 29 isclosed by a pipe plug 30 and the inner end communicates with an axiallyextending hole 31 in flange 8 Opening 28, hole 29 and hole 31 form adischarge passage connecting annular pas sage 27 to the outside of thecoupling at a point adjacent the shaft and one discharge passage or morethan one discharge passage may be provided as found desirable.

When the shafts and coupling are rotating, the lubricant is thrown outby centrifual force and will establish a centrifugal oil level asindicated at a, lubricant filling the space between flanges 7 and 8 fromlevel a to the periphery of such space. Any water contained in thelubricant since it is heavier than the lubricant, will be thrown to theperiphery of the space and to the radially outer end of annular passage27 from which point it will be discharged th ough opening 28 and holes29 and 31 to the outside. The radial depth of hole 29 is made such. thatin case water enters he coupling a water column will be establishedwhich will just bah ance a combined oil and water column when the levelbetween the oil and water stands at about level Z). lVhen no water ispresent oil level a, will of course not be at the same point as whenwater is present since oil is lighter than water although obviously alevel will in all cases be esta shed. Level Z). it will be noted, islocated radially beyond the inner surface of ring 18 so that nothing;but oil can find its way through the coupling to lubricate the same..Jis water is thrown out by centrifugal force the columns become unnae1,759

balanced with the result that water is spilled out of hole 31 until abalance is again effected. As a result after radial hole 29 becomesprimed with water, nothing but water can escape through the dischargepassage. At the same time no water will be fed to the bearing surfaces.ll hatever liquid is discharged from hole 31 is thrown outward bycentrifugal force and I preferably provide a suitable annular member caied by casing 24: to catch. such liquid and direct it to a dischargepipe or opening at the lower side of the casing. (Not shown.)

To test the alignment of the coupling and ascertain if each pin iscarrying its share of the load, I provide the end of each floatingbushing 15 with notches F2. and in ring 18 adjacent each pin is a hole32 normally closed by a plug 33. After removing plugs 33 a suitable toolsuch as a wire having a hook on its end as indicated at 3:2 in Fig. 2may be inserted through holes 32 and engaged with notches 26 to turnbushings 15. By putting some torque on the couplin and trying thesuccessive bushings 15 it may be readily ascertained which. are bindingand ience are carrying the most load and which are loose and hence arecarrying little load. This condition may then be remedied. Thisarrangement is also very useful in assembling the coupling.

The use of floating bushings 15 also serves to compound the bearingsproviding double sliding surfaces and thus reducing to a minimum thelikelihood of the coupling binding.

It will also be clear that a coupling as shown is adapted for rotationin either direction.

Referring now to Fig. 3 I have shown my improved coupling arranged in acombination wherein the left hand flange 8 is carried on the end of ashaft A. which shaft has no bearing immediately adjacent the flange,while the right hand flange 7 is carried by a shaft B having an adjacentbearing C. In the present instance shaft A is shown as being a shaftwhich drives a pinion D carried by a quill shaft E, quill shaft be ingsupported at its two ends by bcurin Shaft A is connected to quill shaftE at the end remote from the coupling and intro duces a certain degreeof flexibili into the drive. New. with such an arra uncnt it is clearthat the coupling mu. orl the our end of shaft A. and by me use of ring18 which forms in substance a part of flaw I provide a bearing meanswhich has l bearing surfaces, the ring 18 hearing on the periphery offlange 7 throughout its circumference. This means that the one end ofshaft A is well supported by the coupling. and that the bearing means issufficiently strong so that the coupling; is not likely to be derangeddue to the sha l .l. being supported thereon.

as is obvious.

I also so arrange the coupling that the center of mass of ring 18 isover and in line with the centers of pins 9. With this arrangement incase of fleXure of shaft A the bearing ring and coupling move together,]l)l.O(l11Cll1,Q the minimum disturbance in the coupling.

Referring now to Figs. 4 and 5, I have shown a coupling which in manyrespects is like that shown in Figs. 1 and 2, differin therefrom only inthe manner in which the flanges are connected together, the coupling ofFigs. 4 and 5 being of the so-termed jaw type. The two shafts areindicated by numerals 35 and 86, the two sleeves keyed to the shafts bynumerals 37 and 38, and the two flanges by numerals 39 and 40. Flange 39is formed with jaws 41 between which fitjaws i2 carried by flange 40,and between the aws are floating bearing members -12 corresponding tothe floating bushings 15 of Figs. 1 and 9. Jaws 42 are formed ofindividual blocks through which pass bolts t3 which clamp jaws %2between a flange 4.4: on a ring 45 and flange 40. Attached to flange atis a radial bearing ring 4.6 which free to slide on sleeve 37 andbetween bearing ring t6 and sleeve 37 are oil overflow grooves 4:7. henaxial movement occurs, sleeve 37 slides on bearing ring 46 Otherwise theparts and arrangement of Figs. at and 5 are the same as that of Figs. 1and 2- and the same reference numerals are used thereon except that theexponent a is added. The function and operation of the modification ofFigs. t and 5 will be obvious from the description given in connectionwith Figs. 1 and 2 and further description is believed to beunnecessary.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, I havedescribed the principle of operation of my invention, together with theapparatus which I now consider to represent the best embodiment thereof,but I desire to have it understood that the apparatus shown is onlyillustrative and that the invention may be carried out by other means.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates, is

1. In a coupling, adjacent flanges, members projecting from one of saidflanges and having surfaces engaging surfaces of the other of saidflanges. and floating bearing elements between said surfaces relativelyto which said bearing surfaces are movable axially.

2. In a coupling, adjacent flanges, members projecting from one of saidflanges and having surfaces engaging surfaces of the other flange,floating bearing element s between said surfaces, and means forlubricating said surfaces.

3. In a coupling, adjacent eouplin elements, a ring surrounding one ofsaid elements and engaging a side of the other, said ring having aninwardly projecting flange, projecting members carried between saidother coupling element and the inwardly projecting flange and engagingsurfaces on the one coupling element, and floating bearing means betweenthe engaging surfaces relatively to which said bearing sur faces aremovable axially.

4. In a coupling, adjacent coupling elements, a ring surrounding one ofsaid coupling elements and engaging aside of the other, said ring havingan inwardly projecting flange, projecting members carried between saidother coupling element and the flange and engaging surfaces on the onecoupling element, floating bearing means between the engaging surfaces,relatively to which said bearing surfaces are movable axially, and meansfor supplying lubricant between the coupling elements to lubricate thecoupling.

Ina coupling,

adjacent coupling elements, a ring surrounding one of said couplingelements engaging a side of the other; said ring having an inwardlyprojecting flangc, projecting members carried betweeii said othercoupling element and the flange and engaging surfaces on the onecoupling element, floating bearing means between the engaging surfaces,means for supplying lubricant to the coupling, and means associated withthe coupling for separating water from the lubricant;

G. In a coupling, adjacent flanges having a space between them, a ringsurrounding said space, means for supplying lubricant to said spaceadjacent its center from where it is thrown out by centrifugal force,one of said flanges having a radially extending passage which its outerend in communication with the space between the flanges and at its innerend communicates with the space outside the coupling.

7. In a. coupling, adjacent flanges, members projecting from one of saidflanges and having surfaces engaging surfaces of the other of saidflanges, and floating bearing elements between said surfaces, an end ofeach floating bearing element projecting beyond the confines of theengaging surfaces so it may be engaged by a tool to ascertain itsworking condition.

8. In a coupling, adjacent flanges, members projecting from one of saidflanges, and having surfaces engaging surfaces of the other flange, andfloating bearing elements between said surfaces, an end of a floatingbearing element having notches adapted to be engaged by a tool toascertain the working condition of the coupling.

9. The combination with adjacent shaft ends, of a coupling thereforcomprising flanges carried by the shaft ends, pins can ried by oneflange and projecting through openings in the other, and floatingbearing bushings surrounding the pins in said openings, said bushingsbeing movable axially relatively to both said pins and openings.

10. The combination with adjacent shaft ends, of a coupling thereforcomprising coupling elements carried by the shaft ends,a ringsurrounding one of said coupling elements and engaging one end the othercoupling element, said ring having an inwardly projecting flange, pinscarried at their two ends by said other coupling element and the flange,said pins projecting through openings in said one coupling element, andfloating bearing bushings surrounding said pins, said bushings beingmovable axially relatively to both said pins and openings.

11. The combination with adjacent shaft ends, of a coupling thereforcomprising coupling elements carried by the shaft ends, a ringsurrounding one of said coupling elements and engaging at one end theother coupling element, said ring having an inwardly projecting flange,pins carried at their two ends'by said other coupling element and theflange, said pins projecting through openings in said one couplingelement, and floating bearing bushings surrounding said pins, said ringhaving openings through which a tool may be inserted to engage saidbearing bushings to ascertain the operating condition of said pins.

12. The combination with adjacent shaft ends, of a coupling thereforcomprising coupling elements carried by the shaft ends, a ringsurrounding one of said coupling elements and engaging at one end theother coupling element, said ring having an inwardly projecting flange,pins carried at their two ends by said other coupling element and theflange, said pins projecting through openings in said one couplingelement, and means for supplying lubricant to the space between saidcoupling elements adjacent their centers from where it is thrown out bycentrifugal force, one of said coupling elements having a radiallyextending opening which communicates at its outer end with the peripheryof the space between the coupling elements and at its inner end with theoutside of the coupling. i

The combination with. adjacent shaft ends, of a coupling thereforcomprising coupling elements carried by the shaft ends, a ringsurrounding one of said coupling elements and engaging at one end theother coupling element said ring having an inwardly projecting flange,pins carried at their two ends by said other coupling element and theflange, said pins projecting through openings in said one couplingelement, and means for supplying lubricant to the space between saidcoupling elements adjacent their centers from where it is thrown out bycentrifugal force, there being oil grooves between said ring and thecoupling element which it surrounds.

14;. The combination with two adjacent flanges having a space betweenthem, a ring surrounding such space, and interengaging membersconnecting the flanges so they rotate together, of means for supplyinglubricant to said space, and means for separating water from suchlubricant comprisingconduit means which extends first radially outwardfrom the periphery of said space and then radially inward toward thecenter thereof whereby two parallel columns are established.

15. The combination with two adjacent flanges having a space betweenthem, and means enclosing said space at the periphery, o1": wallsforming a passage which extends from the periphery of said spaceradially outward, one of said flanges having a re dially extending holetherein which connects the radially outer portion of said passage to thespace outside the coupling.

16. The combination with two adjacent flanges having a space betweenthem, and means enclosing said space at the periphcry, of walls forminga passage which eX tends from the periphery of said space radiallyoutward, one of said flanges having a radially extending hole thereinwhich eX- tends from the outer portion of said passage radially inwardtoward the center of the flange where it is connected to the areaoutside the coupling.

17. In combination, two adjacent shattends, coupling flanges thereon,one of which has spaced openings, projecting members carried by theother or said flanges and having sliding engagement with the openings insaid one flange, and a ring carried by one of said flanges andsurrounding the other flange, said last named flange having a slidinglit with the ring whereby the ring serves to guide it and hold thecoupling in alignment.

18. The combination with a shaft end having an adjacent bearing and asecond shaft end which does not have an adjacent hearing, of a couplingtherefor comprising flanges on said shaft ends, the flange on the firstnamed shaft end being provided with spaced openings, projecting memberscarried by the flange on. the second named shaft end and having slidingengagement with the said spaced openings, and a ring carried by one ofsaid flanges and surrounding the other flange, said last named flangehaving a sliding fit with the ring whereby the ring serves to guide itand hold. the coupling in alignment.

19. The combination with a shaft end having an adjacent bearing and asecond the flange on the first named shaft end and having a sliding fittherewith whereby the ring serves to guide it and hold the coupling inalignment, the center of the mass of said ring being" in line with thecenters of said pins.

In itness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 25th day of March,1919.

JAMES WILKINSON.

